In most four-wheel steer vehicles, the front wheels are steered together in direct and usually linear relation to the steering input of the driver, as in a two-wheel steer vehicle. The rear wheels are steered together as a function of the front wheel steering angle and/or the vehicle speed, to provide desired ride or handling characteristics. The desired ride or handling characteristics are electrically or mechanically simulated to define a reference model, and the rear steering angle required to achieve the desired characteristics is carried out by the rear wheel steering mechanism.
An early mechanization of a four-wheel steer control, as generally set forth above, was described in detail in a paper presented by K. J. McKenna at the Joint Automatic Control Conference held at University of Texas in June, 1974, entitled "A Variable Response Vehicle--Description and Applications". The control described in the paper incorporated a reference steer mode in which a reference model supplied the desired yaw rate and lateral velocity, and a closed-loop control developed the steering commands in relation to a comparison between the desired and actual (measured) Parameters.